The challenge, filed Monday evening, comes just a few days after an attorney representing the family of one of the victims filed an opposition to the gag order in state court, saying it is overly broad and places an undue burden on the families.
The case garnered widespread publicity, and in January Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued the sweeping gag order, barring attorneys, law enforcement agencies and others associated with the case from talking or writing about it. In the gag order, Marshall said the speech restriction was needed to protect Kohberger’s right to a fair trial.
The news organizations in the coalition would have published additional information about the slayings if the gag order wasn’t in place, she wrote. For instance, police in Pennsylvania told one reporter they can’t say whether they are reviewing unsolved cases that could be linked to Kohberger because of the gag order, and the mayor of Moscow told another reporter he can’t talk about overall community healing because of the gag.
The attorney representing Kaylee Goncalves’ family, Shanon Gray, filed a separate court action on Friday asking the Latah County magistrate judge to hold a hearing on the gag order or to clarify it. The current order is “overbroad and vague,” wrote Gray.